outage

American  

[au-tij] / ˈaʊ tɪdʒ /

noun

• outages
  plural

1. an interruption or failure in the supply of power, especially electricity.

2. the period during which power is lost.

   a two-hour outage on the East Coast.

3. a stoppage in the functioning of a machine or mechanism due to a failure in the supply of power or electricity.

4. the quantity of goods lost or lacking from a shipment.

5. Aeronautics. the amount of fuel used during a flight.

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outage British  

/ ˈaʊtɪdʒ /

noun

1. a quantity of goods missing or lost after storage or shipment

2. a period of power failure, machine stoppage, etc

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• outages
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of outage

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05; out + -age

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Explanation

An outage is a sudden interruption in a service. An internet outage means you'll have to wait to watch your favorite show online. You may experience a power outage during a hurricane or snowstorm, when you can’t flip on the lights or use the microwave until crews repair the electrical lines. A computer network or server outage can have many causes (sometimes these are scheduled breaks in service, allowing maintenance to be done). Outages can be annoying and inconvenient, or even dangerous. The American coinage outage, first used in 1903, was modeled on shortage.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

outage outages

Romance fans have been among the hardest hit by the outage.

From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2026

The average response time to repair a streetlight outage rose to 224 days from 31.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

But management claimed residents had been kept informed since the outage began and that it intended to hold a residents' meeting in the near future.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

Revolut has been hit by an outage which it says is impacting "multiple services", as thousands of customers report problems.

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

I explained that the phone had accidentally dropped onto the kitchen floor while I’d been talking to Thomas, but left out the part about the exploding grapes causing a power outage.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

Residents say they still experience outages during heavy storms, as Laos's own electricity infrastructure is outdated and the state utility is heavily in debt.

From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026

Ukraine's energy ministry reported fresh power outages across the country on Sunday, including in Kyiv, following Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026

“This winter will be a cycle of power outages, emergency repairs, restoration,” and more outages, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026

The warning comes just one day after Storm Austen unleashed wind gusts in excess of 75mph, resulting in toppled trees, transport disruption and thousands of power outages.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

Of course, the problem with getting haircuts in the trading center was the frequent power outages that plagued the country.

From "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" by William Kamkwamba

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Related Words

• blackout
• brownout
• disruption
• interruption

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